Why does Search Console show impressions but no clicks?

What Google counts as an impression

Google's definition is that a user "has seen (or potentially seen)" a link to your site. In ordinary results your link counts as an impression if it is on the page that loaded, even if it was never scrolled into view. A click is counted only when someone leaves Google for your site.

Position is the highest place your link reached, averaged across searches. Google records a position only where there was an impression, so a page sitting on page three that nobody reaches doesn't drag the average down. That is why a site can show a healthy-looking average position and still get no visitors.

Reason 1: you're on the page, but at the bottom

A link at position 8 to 10 is technically on page one but below everything people actually read. In Performance, sort the Queries tab by impressions and look at the position column. Positions between about 5 and 15 are where better titles and better opening paragraphs make the most difference.

Reason 2: you're showing for the wrong searches

Google sometimes shows a page for a search that only half matches it. For example, an article about one type of lease might appear for a general "lease" search, where people want something else. Read the query list honestly. If the words don't match what the page offers, either write a page that does or accept that those impressions were never going to click.

Reason 3: your title and description don't win the click

Your page title is the blue link and is the main thing people judge. Put the searcher's own words near the start, say who it is for ("UK", "small business", your town) and promise the answer, not the topic. A title like "Services" or your business name alone rarely wins a click from a stranger.

Reason 4: Google's page already answers it

For simple factual questions, Google often shows the answer at the top of the page, so the searcher never needs to click. You can't stop that happening, and Google says you can't mark a page up to become that featured answer. What you can do is be the source it quotes (answer the question plainly in the first paragraph), and write for questions that need more than one line.

One more thing to check: your Business Profile

If you have a Google Business Profile, the website link on it is a link to your site too. Switch the Performance report to the Pages tab. If one version of your homepage (for example the http:// or www. version that only your profile uses) carries most of the impressions for local searches, those impressions are probably coming from your map listing rather than ordinary results. Your Business Profile has its own Performance view that shows website clicks, calls and direction requests. Those are the numbers to judge it by.

What to do next

1. Performance, Queries tab: sort by impressions and note the top 20 with their positions.
2. Rewrite the title and first paragraph of pages ranking about 5 to 15.
3. Write a new page for any question you're shown for but don't properly answer.
4. Check the Pages tab for a homepage version that only your Business Profile uses.
5. Give it four weeks and compare the same date range.